


Backfire

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: Bestest Cousins, F/M, Fingering, Jealousy, Porn with Feelings, Post-Warrior, Smut, Workplace Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:56:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24112414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: When Lois wants Chloe to meet a new guy from the Daily Planet for a potential date, Oliver gets a little jealous and things get complicated in their no-strings-attached relationship.
Relationships: Lois Lane & Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen & Lois Lane, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Oliver glanced around at the team as they stood in the Watchtower. "Good work," he told them with a smile as he pushed the hood off his head. They'd just finished a particularly dangerous mission that had ended in blowing up a psych ward that had been used to experiment on patients' brains. Of course they'd gotten all of the patients out first, along with the doctor who'd been in charge, but had dropped the latter at the Metropolis PD with plenty of evidence indicating him for his crimes.

He had thought that after Lex was gone, they wouldn't be dealing with this kind of thing anymore, but clearly he'd been wrong. He glanced at Chloe briefly, met her eyes for only a second.

"Man, I'm starving," AC complained. "I'm gonna go get some food. I'm thinking pizza."

"Pizza works for me," Victor agreed with a nod as he followed his friend toward the elevator. "Dinah?"

"I'm thinking Italian," she responded with a smirk. "But not pizza." She followed, as well.

"I'll have both," Bart grinned as he wrapped an arm around Dinah's shoulder as they started towards the door, but paused, turning around, "not coming, 'Licious?"

Chloe pulled the earpiece from her ear and shook her head with a soft smile, "thanks, Bart, I wanna keep an eye on the police updates, you guys have fun."

"Ollie?" AC asked, glancing back.

He shook his head. "I'm gonna fill Watchtower in. Probably get something on my way to the clock tower. Thanks, though."

"No problem." He nodded and the group slowly filtered into the elevator.

Chloe watched as they left then took a deep breath, walking over to the computers again and quickly setting up the scans for the police updates on the case they had just handed them. Since the problem with Zod had been solved, work had been, no matter how big and important the missions were, relatively calm, it felt like the worse was over. Until about a week ago, when they started stumbling on possible 33.1-like facilities.

He glanced toward the elevator, making sure the doors were shut before making his way over to stand behind her. He slid his arms around her waist, placing a kiss against the side of her neck. "What's the verdict, Sidekick? 33.1 or not?"

She shivered, leaning back against him and keeping her eyes on the screens, "I don't know, it seems too... amateur, too easy, something is off, Ollie," she told him as she turned her head up to look at him.

He met her eyes, nodding a little. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too. So we've got a potential Luthor copycat out there building facilities and experimenting on people." There was a frown on his face.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded, turning back to look at the screen again, "we won't know more until the police gets some answers, but as soon as their files get update, the information will be downloaded to out system."

Oliver nodded slightly as well, glancing at the screen momentarily. "It's gonna be awhile," he murmured, his mouth near her ear.

A smirk appeared on her face slowly and she closed her eyes, "the way the MPD works, we have about twelve hours before anything mildly interesting pops up."

"Twelve hours, huh?" He smirked, as well, nibbling lightly on her earlobe.

Chloe lifted a hand to run through his hair, grabbing it gently and chewing on her bottom lip as she turned her head as much as she could towards him, "think you can keep me entertained for that long?" 

He leaned down, kissing her hungrily in response.

With a smirk, she returned the kiss just as hungrily, turning in his arms and wrapping her own around his shoulders.

Oliver hauled her off her feet, picking her up and setting her down on the nearest desk, his fingers sliding into her hair and tugging her head backwards. He lowered his mouth to her neck, kissing her there, tongue darting out to taste her. "Miss me?" he murmured. It had only been a few days since they'd last been together like this, but it had felt much longer.

Her legs locked around him automatically and she pulled him as close as as could as she reached for the zipper on his vest, "I thought they would never leave," felt like it had been weeks, but in the past couple of days, with the league preparing for this mission, they hadn't been able to find time alone.

He smirked at her response, watching with darkened eyes as she unzipped his uniform. He shrugged out of the vest, letting it pool on the floor as he tugged her shirt off over her head right after. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as he slid one bra strap off her arm.

This whole thing had started as a one time thing almost six months ago, Chloe had had a particularly bad day that involved a twelve year old that looked like a twenty three year old and she and Oliver had, somewhere between a few doses of single malt and an archery lesson, ended up naked against the Watchtower wall.

And Chloe was pretty much addicted from the first time.

Oliver was amazing and knew exactly how to use every inch of his body to her benefit, and so things happened again. And again. And kept happening, so often that if there were no members of the League around, it was at _least_ a nightly occurrence. Especially when he got back from patrol.

She cocked her head for him and sighed deeply at the feel of his mouth against her skin, but she didn't want to waste time, so she quickly reached down to undo his uniform pants, as great as he looked in it, he looked much better without it.

He smiled as he dragged the bra off her body, tossing it away and sliding an arm beneath her, bending her backwards just enough to capture a nipple in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue even as his the fingers of his other hand pulled her skirt off and reached for her underpants. "Nice color choice," he muttered against her breast.

Chloe shuddered hard, her legs, that had been pushing his pants down, stilling as she lifted her hips for him slightly, her collection of green underwear had multiplied in the past few months too, with contributions from Oliver as well as things she had picked up.

He chuckled softly against her skin as she shuddered. He slid the underpants down and off her even as he reached into the drawer of the desk, grabbing a condom from inside and ripping it open with his teeth. He lifted his head to look at her, spread out before him, her skin flushed, eyes dilated. She was incredible. "Have I mentioned lately how incredibly beautiful you are?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

She pressed her palms to the glass of the table and smirked at him, running the heel of her shoe against the back of his thigh, "how about less talking and more showing?"

"Still bossy as ever," he answered in a teasing tone, smirking and sliding the condom over his length, then reaching out, tugging her legs gently to pull her closer to him. Then he thrust into her without further hesitation.

Chloe moaned as the feel of him inside of her, a few days was too long, way too long. Her legs locked around his back as she pulled him as far into her as possible, her arms going under her and wrapping up around his shoulders as she held his gaze.

Oliver slid his arms beneath her, leaning down over her as he rocked into her, keeping his eyes on hers the whole time, his heart beating quickly in his chest. Then he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her urgently.

She met him thrust by thrust and every time they were like this, she was reminded exactly why they had started it. Nothing else felt like this, nothing else made _her_ feel like this, with him inside of her, his mouth over hers, leaving her breathless, completely focused on just _feeling_. She didn't think about anything else but him and the way he was touching her and the way her body was reacting to him, about the way he made her back arch, her muscles spasm, her head spin.

Within moments they were nearing the edge, and his arms tightened around her slightly as he broke the kiss to gaze down at her once more. If someone had told him a year ago that he would be having sex with Chloe Sullivan in the Watchtower on a regular basis, he would have scoffed at them. Now he could hardly remember a time when they hadn't been like this. Couldn't recall what it was like to get done with patrol and simply go to bed without seeing and touching her. Without stripping her bare and watching as she came undone in his arms.

Holding his gaze and with their movements becoming more and more desperate, she cried out his name loudly, her muscles tensing around him and a hard shudder breaking through her as her orgasm hit her as hard as it always did with him.

Oliver held onto her tightly, supporting her body as she shuddered hard against him, taking pleasure in her pleasure even as he thrust into her again, once, twice. He pulled her closer to him, burying his face against her neck and hair as his own release hit. He exhaled slowly, placing a kiss against her collarbone.

Chloe turned her own face against his neck, breathing heavily and holding on to him as tightly as she could, her lips pressing against his pulse point, her hands running slowly over his back.

He trailed a path of kisses down to her collarbone, pulling back just enough to look at her once more. "What do you say we hit the shower?" he murmured, his fingers tracing patterns on her back.

Breathlessly, she nibbled at his jaw before running her tongue over his skin, "shower sounds good."

He groaned involuntarily at the sensation, reluctantly moving away from her long enough to dispose of the condom and gather their clothes just in case someone happened to come by while they were upstairs. He handed them to her, then smirked as he picked her up off the desk, carrying her toward the stairs.

After all.

They had eleven and a half hours to kill.


	2. Chapter 2

This had become something of a tradition, every week or so, Lois would send out a group email between herself, Clark, Lois and Chloe and demand they had lunch or dinner together on a determined day. This time, it had been a late lunch on a Thursday, work had been fairly slow for all of them, even Clark had been able to take time to breath between saves and now that Lois knew his secret and all of their secrets, it made everyone's lives a lot easier.

Chloe and Oliver had made it to the restaurant just before two and weren't surprised to find that they were the first ones there, even though the restaurant was two blocks closer to the Planet than it was to the Watchtower and they _almost_ didn't make it to lunch at all.

"Guess we should have taken our time," Chloe told Oliver with a smirk as she picked up her glass of wine and sipped on it.

He lifted an eyebrow at that and took a drink of his own wine, tilting his head. "We can always do that later."

She gave him a look and raised an eyebrow back at him, "I thought you had a board meeting later."

"After the board meeting." He grinned at her, amusement in his eyes.

Her face brightened, but she just shrugged a shoulder, "I suppose, if I'm bored enough."

"Oh, I have a feeling you'll be incredibly bored later," he said, taking another drink of his wine as his foot found hers under the table.

Raising her eyebrows, Chloe slid her foot off of her shoe and slid it inside of the leg of his pants, smirking slowly, "is that so?"

Oliver jumped a little, narrowing his eyes a little. "Careful, Sidekick." His voice was soft. "Or I'll think you're bored _now_." He glanced behind them to the bathroom, then back at her with a smirk.

"Bored, not desperate," she rubbed her toes up his leg, "of course, the same won't be said about you soon."

He reached under the table and caught her foot in one hand. "If that becomes true I won't make it easy on you either," he informed her.

"Discretion, Mr. Queen," she reminded him and picked her glass up again, "leaning down like that is a little too obvious."

"Good thing we're in the back of the restaurant then, in a dark corner, completely alone at the moment." He smirked at her.

Chloe licked her lips and leaned her elbows on the table, not even trying to tug her foot away from his hold, "anyone could see."

He tickled the sole of her foot lightly. "They could."

She gasped and squirmed, pulling her foot away quickly, "I think you're missing the _point_ , here." She told him, narrowing here eyes.

Oliver grinned brightly. "What was the point here?" he asked innocently.

" _Not_ tickling," she kept her voice quiet but gave him a look.

He chuckled and took another drink. "That's what happens when you're being bad in public, Chloe," he teased.

"Bad?" Chloe held his gaze and this time lifted her foot to brush on the inside of his thigh without warning, "I hardly think I'm being _bad_."

He narrowed his eyes again, this time catching her foot in a slightly tighter grip. "It is when one of us has a very long afternoon of board meetings ahead of them."

She did her best to keep her laughter from getting too much attention from the few people that were also in the restaurant, "I just might keep you entertained _during_ those too."

"You are an evil woman, Sullivan," he responded, leaning forward a little. "But do tell. How do you plan to _entertain_ me during the board meeting?"

"I suppose you will just have to wait and see, _Queen_." She leaned forward too.

He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he gazed at her across the table. "I can hardly wait."

"Ugh, finally we're free." Lois's voice carried to the table several seconds before she and Clark actually arrived at it.

Chloe just smirked at him and sat up straight when she heard her cousin's voice, pulling her foot back and sliding it back into her shoe, 'behave' she mouthed to him then smiled brightly as Lois and Clark approached the table, "busy day?"

Clark rubbed his hand behind his neck and sighed, nodding as he pulled a chair out for Lois, "meeting."

She thanked him and sat down beside Chloe. "Very incredibly dull meeting that lasted for _three_ hours," she complained.

"Three hours?" Chloe frowned, looking between them, "what was it about?"

Clark reached for a piece of bread in the basket, he could feel his stomach growling, going three hours without eating around his lunch time didn't go well with him, "policies, things that they are changing in the Planet, everyone was there."

Oliver grimaced. "Sounds like it was as much fun as the board meeting I"ll be heading to after this," he said, taking a drink and casting a quick glance at Chloe.

"Yeah, except the part where you _own_ the company," Lois responded, rolling her eyes.

"Advantage of _my_ job," she smirked, looking from Lois to Oliver with a satisfied smirk, "I get to lead the meetings and they never run longer than necessary."

He smirked at her. "For which everyone thanks you." His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"At least only one of your jobs is boring," she grinned at him.

Clark, who had pretty much devoured all of the available breath, looked between the other three for a moment, "do you mind if we order?"

Blinking, Oliver glanced over at him. "Probably should." He nodded slightly at the waiter across the room.

"See, there definite advantages to being friends with a billionaire playboy. Fast service, and he always pays the tab." Lois smirked.

"Like you can't afford your own lunch Ms. Planet Reporter," Chloe said with a smirk, leaning back against her chair, "you make more than your boyfriend does and you live with him for _free_."

Clark raised his eyebrows and smiled a little at Chloe, shrugging, "there's no reason for her to pay for anything, Chlo."

Oliver rolled his eyes and looked at Chloe with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I get for you today?" the man asked, smiling at them politely.

Chloe raised her eyebrows back at Oliver, things between her and Clark were mostly okay, and she knew they were never going to be the best of friends again, but at least, it was peaceful. Clark divided his time between Lois, the Planet, the farm and saving as many people as he could while Chloe took care of the league, and sure, they teamed up on occasion and one would never refuse the other help, but it had been a mutual decision that to save what was left of their friendship, it was better that they kept their work apart.

She waited until everyone had placed their orders and turned to Lois, "so what do you guys have scheduled for the rest of the day?"

"Deadline on an article about the mayor's office by 5 p.m. today," Lois informed her.

"But we're almost done?" Clark said, frowning a little a Lois.

She glanced at Clark and nodded. "Almost," she told him with an amused smile. "Mayor's office isn't that interesting."

Chloe shrugged and raised her eyebrows, smiling at her cousin, "can't always just talk about superheroes, Lo."

"You do," Lois retorted, glancing at her sideways.

Oliver took a drink of his wine, shaking his head a little with amusement.

"Oh. By the way, there's someone I want you meet." She grinned at Chloe. "New guy at the Planet."

"Oh?" Chloe paused, her eyebrows raising a little as she did her best to force a smile on her lips and keep herself from looking at Oliver, "really?"

Oliver's fingers tightened slightly around the wine glass as he feigned interest in what Lois was saying.

"He's exactly your type. Tall, dark hair, blue eyes. Hot, but also adorable. Brainy." Lois grinned at her.

Pursing her lips together at the description, Chloe forced an even wider smile, "that sounds great, Lo but I don't think I have the time for that kind of thing right now..."

"You can make the time for a hot guy, Chloe. Come on. When was the last time you were on an actual _date_?" Lois shook her head a little. "You can't just lock yourself up in your tower, Rapunzel. Time to let down your hair and have a little fun for a change. And I happen to know your boss, and I'm pretty sure he'll give you the time off." She shot a glare in Oliver's direction. 

He smiled very faintly, feeling more than a little uncomfortable at the direction the conversation had suddenly gone. "Chloe knows she's welcome to take time off whenever she needs."

She still didn't look at Oliver, her chest tightening a little as she couldn't help but wonder if he really was okay with her going on a date with someone else. They had both agreed to keep their 'relationship' casual when they first started this, they both agreed it was just sex, a release they needed to keep going and stay somewhat sane. But when they were spending pretty much twenty-four hours a day together and touching each other whenever they had the opportunity, Chloe couldn't stop herself from believing that _maybe_ things could actually go further than that. Of course she didn't know if that was a good idea, or if she was even ready for that kind of change, so as long as things stayed the same, she was happy.

But the fact that their... thing had always remained a secret was bound to come back and bite them in the ass. Or at least her. Because as far as Lois knew, Chloe hadn't even really looked twice at anyone else since Jimmy, and it was only a matter of time before Lois tried to nudge her towards dating again and now she had no idea where she and Oliver stood when it came to that whole dating other people thing. Not beyond what she knew _she_ wanted anyway.

"I guess I could meet him," Chloe told her cousin, trying her best not to show just how uncomfortable she really was.

Oliver's chest tightened at her agreement and he took a long drink of his wine, trying his best to ignore the sick feeling that had formed in his stomach. He told himself he'd known for months that eventually this thing between them would come to an end because Chloe was an incredible, beautiful woman and it was only a matter of time before some guy fell hard for her and stole her away from him.

He paused at that thought, frowning a little. Except she had never been his to steal. Not really.

"Excellent." Lois beamed at her cousin. "I'll set it up. Maybe dinner and a movie."

"Lois, I agreed to _meet_ him," Chloe said a little too quickly, "I'll stop by the Planet sometime." Her heart beating a little faster, she had no interest in going on dates with anyone, especially not someone who sounded, from Lois' description, exactly like Clark.  
"Trust me, when you meet him, you'll be ready for dinner and a movie." She grinned, then glanced at Clark, noticing his frown. "Not that _I_ was," she added quickly, frowning. "I just meant he's perfect for Chloe."

Clark's frown was still in place as he turned back to a piece of bread.

Chloe sighed softly and took another sip of her wine, adjusting on her seat, "we'll see, Lo..." she said quietly and glanced towards Oliver for the first time since Lois had brought the subject up.

Oliver was studiously avoiding looking at anyone, but he'd finished his glass of wine and was now drinking his water instead.

Lois sighed, too. "Fine, fine. We'll see."

Pursing her lips together, Chloe finished her own glass of wine and cleared her throat, looking back at her cousin, smiling awkwardly.

The rest of lunch passed by with no more mentions of what Ollie had already started referring to in his own mind as 'the guy of Chloe's dreams'. He had been hungry when they'd arrived at the restaurant but by the time their food arrived, his appetite was significantly diminished. He picked at his fettuccinni, ate a breadstick and watched mostly silent as the rest of the group--well, mainly Lois and Clark--ate and chatted about the rest of the week. 

"I should be heading to the office. I have a couple of things to tie up before the meeting," he said, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Chloe stood with the rest of them and nodded a little, "I should get back too," she glanced at Oliver once more then smiled at her cousin, "I'll talk to you later."

"All right. Call you tonight," Lois said with a smile, hugging her. 

Oliver shook Clark's hand, and kissed Lois's cheek, his fingers intentionally skimming lightly along Chloe's arm as he glanced at her then headed for the door.

Chloe held her breath for a second and glanced at him, before giving Clark a quick hug too and waiting just a moment longer before saying her goodbyes and leaving the restaurant.   
He had paused just outside the restaurant, turning to look wordlessly at Chloe as she exited.

Part of her had been hoping he'd be outside but part of her had also hoped they could wait for some of the awkwardness to dissolve before they had to do this, "aren't you gonna be late?"

He shrugged. "They can't exactly start without me. You want a ride back?" he asked.

"Sure," she said quietly, ignoring the fact that her heart was beating faster, "if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he answered, leading her to his car and digging out his keys. "Want to drive?" He glanced at her.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and looked at the keys before shaking her head, "I had more than my share of wine."

A wry smile touched his lips. "Since when does two glasses of wine get the best of you?" His voice was gentle, teasing as he moved to the driver's side.

"Three," she corrected him, "apparently someone wasn't paying attention," she smirked a little and made her way to the passenger's side.

He paused at that even as he unlocked the door. "Apparently not," he murmured.

Chloe frowned as she made her way into the car, turning to look at him immediately. For just a second there, she thought they were just going to brush the awkwardness off and move on, but now she wasn't so sure that was the case. Oliver slid into the driver's seat, sliding the key into the ignition and looking over at her, as well. Without thinking about it, he reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, offering her a soft smile before he started the car.

She couldn't help but return the soft smile and with a deep breath, she relaxed slightly on her seat. She was okay with not bringing it up, they didn't really have much of a reason to talk about it anyway, since they weren't in a relationship to begin with, all she had to do was ignore the part of her that had been secretly hoping he would have been bothered by the prospect of her going on a date with someone else.

He drove her back to Watchtower and parked the car outside, turning to look at her once more. "See you tonight?" he asked softly, searching her face.

"I'll see you later," she told him with a soft nod, "good luck on your meeting."

"Thanks," he murmured.

Chloe held his gaze for a moment longer then forced herself to open the door, "it'll be over before you know it," she told him as she climbed out of the car and looked down at him before closing the door and taking a step back.

He stared at her through the window for a moment, his stomach tightening.

That was what he was afraid of.


	3. Chapter 3

Lois had just finished her third cup of coffee as she sat at her desk in the Daily Planet, her fingers flying furiously across the keyboard as she worked on her story, glancing up when she felt someone standing there. She grinned at her cousin. "Did you bring me coffee?"

Chloe held one of the cups that she had in her hands towards her cousin and rolled her eyes, "like I would dare coming by without it."

She beamed and took the coffee happily. "You shouldn't considering you got me addicted to it to begin with." She took a long drink and sighed contently, leaning back in her chair.

"Better than cigarettes," Chloe smirked, leaning against Lois' desk and looking down at her, "is Clark out?"

She nodded slightly. "Duty called," she said with a small smile, taking another drink and motioning to Clark's empty chair. "Have a seat."

Chloe smiled a little at her cousin and nodded. She knew it wasn't easy on Lois, to have to constantly put her life on hold for Clark to run off and save the world. She pulled Clark's chair closer and sat down, watching Lois, "so what's going on?"

"The usual," she said with a slight shrug. "Behind on deadline because _someone_ ," her voice got louder, "--didn't make another pot of coffee when they drank up the last one."

Smirking, she shook her head, raising her eyebrows at her cousin, "good thing you have coffee now, then?"

"Exactly. You'd think by now these people would know better than to deprive me of coffee. Tends to put me in a bad mood." She smirked back at Chloe, then looked up when a familiar figure walked by. "Richard!" She rose to her feet quickly, her eyes lighting up.

The man turned around and smiled. "Lois." He glanced at Chloe and smiled at her as well.

"Just the guy I was wanting to see." She flashed him a smile and looked at Chloe. "Chloe, this is Richard White. Richard, this is my cousin, Chloe Sullivan."

Chloe's eyes widened, _crap_. She had completely forgotten about Lois' matchmaking fever and apparently she had walked right into a trap. Reluctantly, she stood up and smiled at Richard, taking his hand when he offered it, "nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he told her warmly, shaking her hand. "Lois tells me you used to be a journalist here, too."

Nodding, she smiled softly at him, "yeah, a few years ago," there were definitely similarities between this guy and Clark, not only in their features, but the warm eyes and smile. Chloe just wasn't sure why her cousin would call this 'her type'. She was sure Richard was perfect nice and if circumstances were different, she might be willing to give things a try, but as it was, she had absolutely no interest in him.

He nodded slightly, returning the smile. "Well, it's very good to meet you, and I'm sure I'll see you again whenever you come to entertain your cousin."

Lois smirked. "Ha, ha." She smiled.

"I'm sure, someone needs to make sure she's under control," Chloe told him as pleasantly as possible, with a smile, then watched as he walked away. It was only a matter of time before Lois started asking what she thought of the guy and she was going to have to do her best to put this as nicely as she could and say things in a way that wouldn't worry Lois and make her think she was locking herself up in the tower again.

"Isn't he great?" She raised her eyebrows and turned to Chloe, grinning.

"He seems very nice, Lo," Chloe raised her eyebrows back at her cousin, "but I really don't think I want to do this."

Her smile slipped a little. "Why not? Is he too tall?"

Smiling a little, Chloe just shook her head and took a deep breath, sitting back down, "this dating thing, I don't know, I think I need to figure some things out before I get back to it." Mainly, her feelings for Oliver and if she thought she could keep this thing going and if it was going to be enough for her.

"Sometimes you just have to get back up on the horse, Chlo." She looked at her cousin worriedly. "I know how much you loved Jimmy, but it's been a year and a half. He wouldn't want you to wait forever."

At that, a wave of guilt hit her, she knew she should move on and it wasn't healthy for her to stop living her life, but it was the fact that she had actually moved on so quickly that made her feel bad, "I know, Lo and it's not that, but with everything else that we had going on until recently, I just think I need some time before I do anything else."

Lois sighed softly. "All right. I just want to see you happy. You deserve that with everything that you've been through and all the things that you do for everyone else."

Her face softened at that and Chloe smiled at her cousin, "I'm doing okay, I promise."

"All right. Then consider me backing off on the dating train." Lois smiled a bit.

"Thank you for trying," Chloe said sincerely, watching Lois. She knew she was trying to help, and Chloe almost wished she could tell Lois the truth, but she didn't want to betray Oliver's trust and if things ended, Chloe had no doubt that Oliver would have to deal with a furious Lois and she didn't want to put him through it.

"Well, when that day comes that you're ready, I'd be more than happy to offer my services." She paused, holding up her coffee cup and grinned. "For a price."

"A price?" Chloe cocked her head, smiling a little, "what would that price be?"

She swung her cup back and forth a little. "What do you think?"

Laughing softly, she shook her head, "how many times a week will it be required and can I use Clark as my delivery boy?"

"No, the part of the deal is that I get to see _you_ when you bring me the coffee," she said brightly.

"You can come by to see me anytime you'd like, you know?" Chloe reminded her, silently hoping Lois didn't chose late nights to come by the Watchtower.

"I know. But between your work and mine it seems like we hardly ever see each other." Lois paused. "Maybe we could have a standing girl's night." 

"I think that sounds nice," Chloe said sincerely, "it will be easier to stay updated."

"Excellent. Thursday nights, maybe?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows, and a hint of a smirk on her face.

"We can try for Thursdays but I'm pretty sure it will depend on what we have going on, both our works are pretty unpredictable." She told her, raising her eyebrows suspiciously at the look on Lois' face.

"I think the world saving and news reporting can wait for one hour while we drool over the super-hot guys on Supernatural on Thursday nights."

"Supernatural?" Chloe asked, confused.

Lois stared at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

She just shook her head, raising her eyebrows.

She blinked a couple of times. "All right, it's a good thing I own the first five seasons on DVD. We'll just...have to get you caught up before it starts up again in the fall." She smirked.

Chloe considered Lois for a moment then nodded, "I guess as long as there are hot guys involved, it can't be that bad."

Lois grinned. "Two super-hot brothers and eventually an angel that's just as hot." She sighed and drained the rest of her coffee.

Grinning softly, Chloe shrugged then sipped on her own coffee, "sounds interesting enough..."

She studied her for a moment. "How are work things going?" Her voice grew softer.

"Not bad, we have some new things we're looking at but keep hitting dead ends," Chloe raised her eyebrows, "but more importantly, how are things with Clark?"

"Good," she said with a soft smile. She was quiet for a few moments. "How's Ollie?"

At that, Chloe stilled for a moment, she told herself not to panic, after all, Lois clearly didn't know what was going on and she was just asking because she knew Chloe and Oliver spent a lot of time together, "he's doing good."

"Good. I always kind of worry about that one," she admitted with a slight shrug.

With a deep breath, she smiled a little, "yeah, I think it's going a lot better now since we don't have the whole alien apocalypse to deal with."

Lois grimaced. "I still can't believe you've been dealing with all of this for so long," she whispered with a slight frown.

"Hey," Chloe shook her head and reached for her cousin's hand, squeezing it, "it's over, we don't have to deal with it anymore and that's all that matters."

She smiled a bit and squeezed her hand back. "Right. I know." 

"Maybe we can take time on those Thursdays and talk about this too," Chloe suggested quietly, "make sure you have all your answers," because even though Lois had known for a couple of months, Clark had been the one to update her on everything that happened and Chloe didn't know how much he had told her about her side of the story.

"I'd like that," she agreed with a nod. She gazed at Chloe for a moment. "And you should know, that whatever it is that happened with you and Smallville while I was in the future...you're my cousin and I love you. And that's how it will always stay."

"I wouldn't think anything else," Chloe promised her, "and either way, that doesn't matter anymore."

"Good." Lois smiled at her and stood up. "Give me a hug."

With a smile, she stood up and wrapped her arms tightly around her cousin, it was a huge relief that Lois knew about everything, well, almost everything and she knew that in the future, if they had to go through something as big as that again, it would make communication between her and Clark a lot easier.  
She hugged her tightly in return.

***

Lois still hadn't gotten used to the fact that her little cousin was the head of an entire secret society of superheroes and not only that, but had her own club house hiding in plain sight, in the heart of Metropolis. She had demanded to see the Watchtower as soon as she heard about it, of course, but she had only been there once before and it was filled with people, now, as she got out of the elevator and heard no noise at all, it almost felt like she was walking into a library or a church, everything echoed and the sunlight came in through the panels, it kinda made her uncomfortable.

But she shrugged it off and pushed the doors open like she owned the place anyway. Only to almost be hit by an arrow, "Hey! Might wanna be more careful and not point that thing towards the door where _innocent people_ might walk in at any time?" So the arrow had safely hit the target about three feet from her, but still...

Oliver smirked and reached for another arrow, glancing at her. "You weren't in any danger, Lois," he assured her with amusement.

"Says you," she raised her eyebrows accusingly then dropped her purse on top of one of the desks, "where is my cousin?"

"I haven't seen her since this morning." He paused, a frown settling on his face. "Was she supposed to meet you here?"

"Well, no, but I was bored and Clark was gone so I figured I'd stop by," Lois paused and frowned back, "you mean she's been gone all day and you don't know where she is?"

"I've only been here an hour, Lois. I was doing my other job," he told her, setting his bow and arrow down on the floor.

"I guess you're excused," she said distractedly, looking around the tower curiously.

He watched her for a moment. "Try calling her," he suggested, unable to stop himself from feeling worried.

Lois gave him a look, "give her some time, Ollie, if she doesn't show up in another hour or so, we'll call, but aren't you the one always saying she needs to get out more anyway? Besides, maybe she finally listened to me."

"Listened to you about what?" he asked distractedly, moving over to one of the computer terminals.

"Living a little, going out, meeting some guy and having some fun instead of just playing babysit to you guys 24/7."

Oliver flinched a little at that. "That's hardly all she does, Lois. She's a lot more than a glorified babysitter."

Lois dismissed him with a wave of her hand, "you know what I mean, she needs to not... work for a while."

"Is this the part where I say 'pot, meet kettle'?" He smirked.

"Pfft," Lois rolled her eyes, "please, I do other things, she doesn't even watch TV, Ollie, do you know how _serious_ that is?"

"She does other stuff," he said with a frown. "TV's not really important anyway."

Lois crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look, "like _what_?" She demanded.

He stared at her for a moment. "Like reading, and watching movies. And she travels with us sometimes when we go on missions out of the city."

"Well, I will have to be around more to make sure that's actually happening and no, once a month doesn't count as 'sometimes'."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "She has fun more than once a month, Lois."

"Well, she's not the only one I'm worried about," she raised one eyebrow pointedly at him.  
He looked taken aback at that. "I have fun." _Mostly with your cousin_ , he added silently.

"You looked like hell last week during lunch, don't think I didn't notice."  
Shaking his head, he moved to pick up his bow again. "Hey, you try dealing with a two hour investor's meeting in the morning and a four hour board meeting in the afternoon."

Lois put a hand on his bow to stop him, "is this why you're trying to avoid me?"

He looked up at her uncertainly. "Because of meetings?" 

"Right, obviously not, so spill it."

"Spill what?" Oliver stared at her, ignoring how quickly his heart was now pounding.

Lois just gave him a look, "am I gonna have to beat it out of you?"

"Apparently, because I have no idea what you're talking about, Lois."

"Alright, _fine_ , if you're gonna be difficult, I'll get it out of Chloe." She informed him and let go of his bow then started looking around, "where is the coffee maker in this place anyway?"

He smirked at her. "In the kitchen." He turned and pointed.

With one more glare at him, she walked to the kitchen and started looking around for the coffee and then started making it, but the distance didn't stop her from talking to him, even if she pretty much had to shout, "and anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

He let another arrow fly and watched as it hit pretty far off to the right of the bullseye. Sighing softly, he set his bow down once more and headed toward the kitchen. "What'd you want to ask?"

Lois smirked when he walked into the tiny kitchen then frowned a little, "so Chloe tells me she is fine and that she has to 'work on some things' before she can date, even though when I introduced her and Richard, there were obvious sparks flying, so you see why it's hard for me to believe that she's fine and since you're the one who is around her the most, I wanted to ask what you thought because I'm considering pushing her a little more because really Ollie, this guy is perfect for her."

His stomach tightened at her words. "What makes him so perfect for her?" he asked, honestly curious about Lois's opinion on what kind of guy Chloe _should_ be with.

"Well, he's really nice, for starters, and he's super smart, he's a reporter so, you know, instant connection right there, he's funny but he doesn't force it and did I mention gorgeous? I mean, if I wasn't with Clark, there would be drooling every time he walked by my desk. He has an awesome ass," she paused and frowned, "and if you tell Clark I said that I _will_ hurt you, Queen."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'm not really interested in the Lois and Clark drama, so I'll hold my tongue, thanks." He gave her a look, then looked away, taking in the rest of what she said. "Have you done a background check? Nice guys aren't always what they seem."

"Like I would throw just anyone at my cousin?" She gave him a look, "the guy is clean, besides, he's Perry White's nephew and Perry is like, Chloe's journalism hero, or was anyway."

He suppressed a grimace, but just barely. That didn't sound good. For him anyway. Swallowing hard, he shrugged a little. "She'd have to hide a hell of a lot from him."

"Yeah I guess, but I'm not saying she should marry the guy, although he probably is marriage material, I just think she needs to start seeing people again and you know, get laid, have fun."

"Okay, what is it exactly you want from me?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

With a shrug, Lois started looking for a mug, "you can help me get her to go out with him, what else, Ollie? You and Chlo talk a lot now and I figured she'd listen to you."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't want to go out with the guy, Lois, maybe you should just leave her alone about it."

"I'm not gonna _push_ her, I just wanna make sure she's okay," Lois said with a roll of her eyes, even if she thought Chloe was missing a perfectly good opportunity.

"She's fine, Lois."

Lois just sighed and gave him a look, clearly he wasn't going to be any help.

He sighed softly. "Don't you think I'd know if she wasn't okay? Like you said, I spend a lot of time with her these days."

"Chloe is good at hiding things, sometimes I think she's better than I am."

Oliver didn't quite meet her eyes at that. She wasn't wrong about that, that was for certain. "I'll talk to her."

"See? Was that so hard?"

 _Extremely_ , he thought, sighing softly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe had been surprised to find Lois at the Watchtower when she got home, but it had been a nice surprise. When Oliver went patrolling, Lois was still there and they just hung out, had some ice cream and enjoyed each others company.

It had only been a few minutes since she left when Chloe heard footsteps on the roof, she smiled a little, sure that Oliver would more than just pleased to see she was there by herself.

He descended the stairs slowly, more tired than he usually was after patrolling. He tugged his hood off and raked a hand through his hair, pausing momentarily when he spotted Chloe at her computers. "Hey." His voice was quiet.

"Hey," she turned to look at him, smiling softly, her time with her cousin had definitely been refreshing and Chloe just felt more relaxed than usual, at least usual when she and Oliver hadn't been able to spend time together in a couple of nights.

"How'd things go with Lois?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It went well," she told him quietly, watching him, he was tense, "are you okay?"

Oliver held his breath for a long moment. "Are you?"

Pausing, she frowned, a little confused as she watched him for a full moment, "yeah? Why?"

"Lois is worried about you," he said quietly.

Chloe rolled her eyes a little, "it's Lois, she's worried about me about as often as she's breathing, Ollie..."

A small smile touched his lips at that. "True."

"Don't let her paranoia rub off on you," she told him with a soft smile, "I'm fine."

Oliver searched her eyes for a moment, relaxing a little. "Good."

"Your turn," she told him, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"My turn?" He frowned a little.

"To tell me how you are, you seem tense," she told him quietly, watching him.

He was quiet for a moment, then nodded a little. "Yeah, I guess I am a little," he admitted.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly, stepping closer and frowning worriedly.

Oliver reached out and touched her face. "Are you happy?"

The words were barely out of his mouth and her stomach tightened, he was tense and asking her that, which clearly meant he wasn't and that something had to change, "I'm okay," was the best she could do.

His chest tightened at her words. "Oh," he whispered.

Her eyes widened a little and all the relaxation she felt earlier was gone, "what's going on?" She was afraid to ask, but made herself do it.

It took him a moment to respond. "I want you to be happy. You deserve that." 

She had been, she was fine until she felt like he was ready to end what they had, "I am, I don't understand why you're asking me this now."

He looked at the floor. "Lois doesn't seem to think so."

"Lois doesn't _know_ ," she told him, holding her breath as she watched him.

Oliver glanced up again, meeting her gaze. Wordlessly he stepped forward, sliding a hand into her hair as his lips descended upon hers.

Her eyes widened a little, her head hurt, she was so confused, she couldn't tell what he was thinking or what was going on and it was highly frustrating, but she returned the soft kiss without hesitation.

He leaned his forehead against hers, sliding his other arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

Chloe kept her eyes closed and wrapped her arms around him, taking a deep breath, she wanted to ask him what he was doing, what he was thinking, but she couldn't bring herself to.

He kissed her again, softly, his hand sliding up her back.

She wrapped her arms tighter around him, moving as close as she could as she returned the kiss.

Groaning, Oliver slipped an arm beneath her, pulling her off her feet without breaking their kiss.

Chloe shifted and her legs went around him automatically, her body was so used to his, to him, it just knew exactly what to do, but she broke the kiss and looked up at him, her heart beating fast.

He gazed back at her, his eyes dark and intense. "Tell me what you want," he whispered.

She took a deep breath and watched him for a full moment, divided between telling him or not. She decided against it and just kissed him hard instead, if this was going to be the last time this happened, she wanted to make the most of it.

He returned the kiss with urgency, stumbling backwards a little even as his hands tightened on her hips.

Without breaking the kiss, she tugged impatiently on the zipper for his vest, she didn't want anything between them, so when it finally opened, she pushed the vest off of him, dropping it on the floor.

He dropped his mouth to her neck, teeth grazing over her skin as he yanked her shirt up and over her head, moving them backwards toward the sofa in the corner of the room. It was always like this between them: fiery, hot, raw. But this time there was a sense of something else, too; a desperation and neediness that there had never been room for before.

Gasping, she lifted her head for a moment, but as soon as he sat down on the couch with her on his lap, she tugged on his hair as she turned her head towards him and looked at him for a brief second before kissing him again.

He pulled her closer to him, one of his hands tangling in her hair as he kissed her back. His other hand slid down, unsnapping the clasp of her bra. As soon as it was gone, he slid his hand around to cup her breast gently, biting down lightly on her lower lip as his hips pressed against hers almost involuntarily.

Chloe moaned against his mouth, her back arching at his touch, grabbing his hair, she slid her other hand down his back, rubbing it against his skin.

Oliver shifted beneath her, reaching down with one hand to undo his leather pants, hooking his other arm around her waist to keep her from falling backwards as he moved.

She supported herself on her knees, reaching for the zipper on her skirt and pulling it off above her head before tossing it behind her then turning her attention back to him, she didn't want to think about what would happen if she couldn't do this with him anymore, if she couldn't _be_ with him like this anymore.

He didn't want to think about it either, and right now he wasn't going to. He shoved his pants down and off his hips, dragging his boxers down with them. He broke the kiss long enough to look up at her with dark eyes, tugging her down against him.

Her breath caught when she met his eyes, shuddering, she swallowed hard, but forced herself to keep her eyes open, she didn't want to look away.

Oliver kept his eyes on hers as he slid a finger inside her, groaning softly.

Her eyes finally closed but only for a moment, and she shook her head, taking a deep breath and opening her eyes to look at him again, "you."

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed a little.

"I want _you_ ," she told him, taking another deep breath and shifting her hips.

The breath caught in his throat at her words. "You've got me," he responded, not looking away from her.

Her chest tightened at his words and she shivered, holding his gaze and looking down at him as she reached between them and took him in her hand.  
He groaned, laying his head against the back of the sofa and tightening his hold on her hips. "Chloe." He gritted his teeth.

She tightened her hold on his hair and tugged on it so he would lift his head, she didn't want him to look away from her as she moved her hand over him, she wanted him to remember exactly it felt like, what _she_ felt like if they never did this again.

Oliver met her eyes once more, breathing heavily. "If you keep that up...it's gonna be...a short night," he whispered.

Chloe stilled her hand and shifted her hips, "I want it to be a long night," she told him, lifting her herself slightly and positioning him before sliding down, a moan escaping her as she felt him inside of her.

"Me too." He groaned softly at the sensation, tugging her head down by her hair so he could kiss her.

Her stomach tightened as she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around him tightly, she held him as close to her as she could.

He thrust into her, his other hand plastered against the small of her back.

Chloe held her breath as she forced herself to slow down her movements, both of her hips and her mouth. She wanted them to take their time, things felt different this time, like she was more connected to him than before and she knew it was probably just her, wanting to cling to what they had, but whatever it was, she just wanted to feel it for as long as she could.

Oliver broke the kiss so he could gaze at her, wanting to see her eyes as she slowed down their rhythm and he let her, his heart beating quickly in his chest. This was different, slower and somehow more intense and it dawned on him that they had never done this before, and that they were encroaching upon new territory. He slid his hands slowly down her back, keeping his eyes on hers.

Shivering, she opened her eyes, glad that he had slowed down too, she didn't want it to be the way it normally was with them, as mind-blowing as every single time was with Oliver, she wanted them both to enjoy their time together and she was glad he was willing to go along with it.

He watched her as they moved together slowly, enjoying the change of pace, the intensity of it all. He rubbed his hands up and down her thighs, feeling the softness of her skin beneath his calloused palms. "Beautiful," he murmured.

Her breath caught as she watched him, glancing quickly at his hands before looking back at his face again. She cupped his face in her hand as she moved her hips slowly.   
He leaned into her touch, then turned his head and kissed her palm before looking at her once more, meeting her thrusts halfway but not trying to speed them up. They had been crossing lines for the last six months, secretly. But tonight felt like they were crossing another, bigger one.

With her chest tight, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, watching him as well as she could from that position, she didn't want to take her eyes off of him, but all of the sudden, she felt exposed, like he could see exactly how she felt.

Oliver's fingers threaded gently in her hair, keeping her close to him and kissing her softly, tenderly on the mouth. Then he shifted slightly beneath her, tugging her even closer to him and placing a soft kiss against her cheek.

Her eyes closed for a second, feeling him sliding deeper, slowly as she kept on moving her hips at the same pace, then kept closed as she returned the kiss, her hand still on his cheek, her thumb brushing against his skin.

His lips brushed over hers as his own eyes drifted shut, his arms circling her in a tight embrace even as they moved together. 

Chloe breathed against his mouth, running her tongue over his bottom lip as she wrapped her other arm around his shoulder, holding on to him.

He rested his forehead against hers, kissing her softly and then lowering his head to place tender kisses against her throat, his tongue darting out to taste her skin.

She allowed her eyes to stay shut this time, her hand sliding from his face to the back of his neck as she pressed her finger to his muscles gently, she wanted him to be completely relaxed. She wanted to be able to do that to him.

He exhaled slowly, sliding a hand up her back and letting his fingers move in circular patterns over her shoulder blades as he moved his mouth to kiss her ear lightly, smiling a bit.

Chloe shivered, the hint of a smile appearing on her lips too, he knew exactly what kissing her ear would do to her, she turned her head and caught his earlobe between her lips, sucking on it lightly.

He smiled more at her shiver, then groaned softly as she returned the favor even as he dropped a kiss against her shoulder. They knew each other so well, were so familiar with each other's bodies by now it almost amazed him. It dawned on him that he'd been with her longer than he'd ever been with another woman.

She brushed her nose against his ear and sucked on it a moment longer before letting go, then turned her head a little more and kissed his cheek.

Oliver turned his head, nuzzling his nose against her neck, and then her cheek, murmuring her name almost inaudibly.

Chloe pulled her head back just enough to look at him, her chest tight again as she cupped the back of his neck.

He opened his eyes to gaze at her, breathing catching in his throat. "Chloe," he whispered again, lifting his hands to her face and kissing her softly.

She swallowed hard, looking at him for just a second then returning the kiss, this was going to make things harder but she didn't care. She wanted this. What she could have of it.

* * *

They lay together on the sofa, her body between his and the cushions, her back to him and his arm draped around her waist. He was consciously aware of the sound of his heartbeat in his ears even as he pressed a soft kiss to her earlobe.

Chloe took a deep, closing her eyes and reaching down for the hand he had around her, taking it in both of hers. They had never done this before, none of it. As soon as it was over, their clothes were gathered and they were back to normal, but not this time. Everything had been different and she couldn't shake the feeling that he did planned on changing things between them.  
He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, threading his fingers through hers. "Chloe?" His voice was very soft.

"Yeah?" She whispered, holding her breath and looking down at their hands, her heart, that had been slowing down from their activities suddenly started beating faster again.

"Would it be all right if I stayed the night?" he murmured.

She closed her eyes tightly, stilling for a moment then nodded, squeezing his hand in hers, "yeah," she told him so quietly, he wouldn't have heard her if he wasn't pressed up against her.  
Oliver leaned over and pressed a soft kiss against her temple, resting his head against hers for a long moment.

Swallowing hard, she didn't move for a while, with a deep breath, she shifted and slowly, turned around to face him. She couldn't pretend anymore, she had to know what he was thinking, what happened next. But the second she met his gaze, she felt herself unable to speak.

He lifted a hand and gently tucked some hair behind her ear. "What is it?" he asked quietly, his thumb stroking her cheek.

"What is going on?" She asked him quietly.

"I'm not sure," he admitted softly, gazing at her.

Holding her breath, she just stared at him for a moment then looked down, "is this... are you ending this?"  
His chest tightened at her words. "Is that what you want?"

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed deeply, "I don't know."

Oliver swallowed hard. "Oh." Had he misinterpeted everything that had just happened between them? Had he just been feeling and seeing what he'd been hoping to feel and see from her? Or had it simply been her way of telling him goodbye?

It took her a while, but she managed to open her eyes and look at him again, she blinked a couple of times, not sure what she saw on his face, "what do _you_ want?"

Doubt had already taken hold in the short moments since she'd turned to face him. "I don't know."

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over her face, looking away from him again, her chest was so tight, she felt like she couldn't breath. No matter how much she was anticipating this, a part of her was still hoping it wasn't true.  
Feeling her withdraw from him both emotionally and physically stung and he swallowed once more. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

She could feel her eyes getting warm with tears, her stomach turning at his apology. If she knew this was going to happen, why did it hurt so much? Why did she allow herself to be so open in the past hour, to feel everything she knew she shouldn't be feeling only to have it all be taken away so shortly after.

He shut his eyes, laying his forearm over them. "I guess I misread things," he said quietly.

Chloe didn't want to talk about it anymore, it was only going to make it hurt more, but until he moved, she couldn't get up, she was stuck there, his body pressed against hers, and she had to stop herself from touching him, "what did you misread?" She forced the words out of her mouth after a long moment.

"That was different from before, wasn't it?" His voice was almost inaudible. "I mean, I have a good imagination, but I don't think even my imagination is _that_ good, Chloe."

"It was," she whispered, then rubbed her hand over her face and looked up at him, "I'm sorry." She knew it was her fault, she was trying to hold on to him.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked softly, unable to look at her.

"It's my fault," she admitted, sighing and shifting, sitting up. She had to move, put some distance between them.

Swallowing hard, he shifted slightly and sat up, as well, sensing she wanted to get away from him. "No. It's not. Don't blame yourself, Chloe," he murmured.

"I knew what you were trying to do and I made it worse." She shifted, sitting up straight and looking around for her clothes.

Oliver paused even as he had reached down to pick up her shirt, then slowly handed it to her. "What did you think I was trying to do?" he asked uncertainly.

"Thank you," she whispered, but didn't look at him as she took the shirt from him, sliding it on, "you're not happy with things the way they are."

He shut his eyes for a moment. "Neither are you," he said quietly.

With a shaky breath, she closed her eyes too, "I'm sorry I made this more difficult."

He swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat and he reached out, putting his hand on her arm. "You didn't. I did."

"How?" She wanted to pull away from his touch, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "I'm a selfish guy, Chloe," he murmured. "And you deserve to be happy."

"So do you, Oliver. There is nothing selfish about you," she was the selfish one, trying to keep him to herself even though he didn't want to do this anymore.

"Yes, there is. I didn't even see it until Lois pointed it out. And I've spent more time with you than anyone lately."

"You have to do what is best for you sometimes, I get that and... I understand." She whispered.  
His eyebrows furrowed a little at her words. "Wait," he whispered back, turning his head to look at her again, uncertainty tugging at him once more. "What are you talking about?"

She glanced at him, holding her breath and letting it out slowly, "this isn't working for you anymore."

Oliver frowned slightly. "Because you deserve more than this. It's not about me." 

Chloe paused at that, shaking her head, "what are you talking about?"

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Chloe, I want you to be happy. Even if that's not with me."

She shook her head and frowned, her stomach tightening again as she tried to keep herself from feeling hopeful, "if I have the choice, I don't _want_ anyone else."

His eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying?" he whispered.

"I wasn't faking what just happened, Oliver," she told him carefully, feeling exposed again.

"Neither was I," he responded, meeting her eyes.

Blinking, she shook her head, confused, "I don't understand."

"I'm not sure I do either." He paused, searching her eyes. "Chloe, what happened between us now was different because it wasn't just sex. We made love. Didn't we?"

Her mouth was suddenly dry and her heart was beating fast, her eyes were wide, "I--" but she couldn't say anything, she just nodded.

He shut his eyes for a moment, relief washing over him. "God, we just...need to communicate better," he whispered, lifting a hand to her cheek. "You're right. I do want things to change. For both of us. Together."

She took a deep breath, watching him, "you mean you're not ending anything?"

Oliver opened his eyes to look at her. "I want us to begin something new," he said softly.

With a long, shaky sigh, she just looked at him for a moment then reached over, taking his hand in hers.

"Is that what you want, too?" He needed to be sure.

"Yes," she whispered, nodding and looking at him, "I didn't think that was what you wanted..."

He pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. "I didn't realize it until Lois kept mentioning that guy at the Planet she wanted to hook you up with." He grimaced.

Chloe smiled slightly and nodded, "me too, I never thought it could end before then."

"I was afraid you were going to be interested," he admitted quietly.

She hesitated for a moment before shifting closer to him, "if I didn't have you, I probably would have been."

Oliver slid his arm around her, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead. "But I'm cuter right?"

Chloe smiled and wrapped her arms around him, taking a deep, relaxing breath, "yeah... you're so much better."

He wound his other arm around her, as well, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her temple. "What do you say we go upstairs?" he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded, "are you still staying the night?"  
"If that's all right with you." He kissed her shoulder softly.

Closing her eyes, she turned and kissed his cheek, "you can stay as often as you want to."

Oliver smiled and picked her up as he rose to his feet. "Maybe I should start leaving more of my stuff here."

"There's plenty of space," she told him, smiling and tightening her arms around him.

His smile widened. "There is," he agreed, carrying her toward the stairs.

Grinning a little more, she kissed him softly as they went upstairs and paused to look at him, she couldn't believe she had just put them through all that and as it turned out, he wanted the exact same thing she did. He was right, they had to communicate better.

Oliver kissed her forehead as he gently set her on the bed and crawled under the covers beside her.

She took her shirt off and threw it on the floor then shifted closer to him, turning to face him and wrapping an arm around him.

"Honestly, I should've known," he said softly, resting a hand against her back.

"Known what?" She asked softly too, taking a deep breath and rubbing her hand over his back.

He smiled faintly. "That I'd end up falling for you," he admitted.

Chloe smiled and shook her head, hugging him closer, "I'm glad it's mutual." 

He smiled, as well, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Me too."

Leaning closer, she kissed him slowly, a soft smiled on her face, she had been right about things changing between them, she just had gone in the completely wrong direction.


End file.
